Inmate forced to take drugs will represent himself at trial

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Inmate forced to take drugs will represent himself at trial

HARTFORD — A trial set for the first week in January will decide if Connecticut should compensate a prison inmate who was injected with psychotropic drugs against his will.

Court records said Kacey Lewis was taken from his cell, shackled and subdued with pepper spray for some of the 42 injections he received from the medical staff at Northern Correctional Institution in Somers.

A U.S. District Judge found the prison staff violated Lewis’ rights to due process.

The trial also will determine whether medical staff violated Lewis’ rights against cruel and unusual punishment by being deliberately indifferent to his medical needs.

Lewis is acting as his own attorney and said he is not mentally ill. He has been imprisoned since 2009 on a 15-year sentence for the assault and kidnapping of his girlfriend.